Project:

A Comparison of Invasive Species Presence on the Edge of a Habitat vs. the Center

Students:

Ben Fink, Kaitlyn Nam, Parker Nam

School:

Ethical Culture Fieldston School, The Bronx

Mentors:

Abigale Koppa

Abstract:

The goal of this experiment is to determine whether areas closer to human pathways contain a higher proportion of invasive species than habitats farther away. We will collect plant species from transects at two different locations, at the edge and the center of the freshwater wetland in Randall’s Island. With the collected plants, we will isolate their DNA with silica resin, amplify it with PCR, and then analyze it with gel electrophoresis. We will then use DNA barcoding to confirm whether each plant species we collected was invasive to the area. We will then use this data to calculate the proportion of invasive species to non-invasive species at each location. We expect that there will be a higher ratio of invasive to non-invasive species near the edges of the wetland’s paths as opposed to the center. We expect this because invasive species tend to thrive in environments with more access to sunlight, such as by a path, and a higher probability of introduction due to increased foot

Poster:

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